I had Verizon
FIOS service installed at my house on October 18, 2005. I decided to create this
web page to share my experiences and to help others prepare for their own FIOS
installation.

Prior to FIOS I had cable modem service from Cablevision.

I had already installed a hard wired LAN in my house. I have an old but perfectly serviceable Nexland ISB800 8-port router that I did not want to replace.

I built a wiring cabinet into the closet of one of our spare bedrooms. It
expanded over time, and I also got better at wiring. It all worked but it was a
sloppy mess. I used the imminent Verizon FIOS install as an opportunity to redo
all my punch downs and tidy up my wiring.

Wiring closet before...

and after. What an improvement!

You can see in the "before" pictures that I left way too much slack in the
category 5E cables. Some of this slack I pushed up into the attic but most of it
I cut off.

I read on the Verizon web site that a category 5E cable is required between
the FIOS ONT (optical network terminal), usually installed on an outside wall at
your current phone service demarcation point, and your computer, or more precisely, the Verizon-supplied
D-Link 4-port router that will presumably be located near your computer. Verizon
clearly states that they will run this cable but they will not snake walls. I
wanted my cable to run through my walls, so I ran it myself, something that my
installer, John, greatly appreciated. You can see in the "after" picture above
two light colored cables in front of the wiring closet. These run from the
demarcation point to the wiring closet. Why are there two? Because I always run
a spare cable. It's just as easy to pull two cables as it is to pull one, and
this way if one fails, I can easily switch over without having to crawl around
in my attic again.

I also knew that the ONT would need a source of AC power and space to mount a
backup battery, power supply, and the ONT itself. I intended for the ONT to be
installed inside my garage, but first I had to relocate my automatic lawn sprinkler controller
and add an additional electrical jack. The sprinkler controller was in a bad
spot and I needed an excuse to move it anyway.

More prep work. Moving the sprinkler
controller (blue box) away from the electrical panel where I wanted my ONT
installed. I also replaced the small switched electrical outlet with a
four-gang box.

The small box top center is the current
Verizon demarcation point. Next to it is my main electrical panel. The small
box attached to the left side of the electrical panel is a whole house surge
suppressor. The two light colored cables hanging down from the ceiling are
the other ends of the two cables in my wiring closet.

The sprinkler controller in its new
location, near the garage door and closer to the outdoor sprinkler unit.

It needs electrical power. I moved the
box from the side of the electrical panel. Its also a handy place to plug in
a vacuum cleaner when cleaning out the car.

The installer, John, arrived promptly around 9:00 AM as promised. He was very happy to see
that I had done all the prep work. He complimented me as the most prepared
customer he had ever seen. The only (minor) problem he had was initially there was no
signal on the pole in front of my house. John had to make two trips to a central
cable vault somewhere in my neighborhood to resolve this.

The pole in front of my house is a rat's
nest of wires. There were four separate phone wire drops to my house! I
guess someone who lived there before me had a lot of phones.

This is the corner of the garage where
the phone lines enter. Technically the ONT should have been installed here,
but I did not want this and asked for it to be installed inside.

From four pieces of copper to one fiber
(plus the cable TV coax which I plan to replace as soon as Verizon offers TV
over the fiber).

I was initially upset that John cut down
my old copper wire because I thought having them there would allow me to
revert to POTS if there ever was a problem with the fiber. But once cut
there was no turning back, and actually there have been zero problems with
the fiber so there is no need to leave the copper up once you convert
to FIOS.

They are supposed to install the ONT outside so that it is accessible to
technicians without them having to enter your house (i.e. if there is a problem
with the ONT you do not necessarily have to be home for it to be resolved). I
did not want my ONT outside for several reasons: I did not want it exposed to
the weather (although this is less of an issue with fiber vs. copper); it is a
large ugly gray box and I did not want it on the outside of my house just
because I don't want large ugly gray boxes on the outside of my house! John
explained that although he was supposed to install it outside, he could install
it inside if the customer insisted. I insisted (in a nice way) and considering
all the prep work I had done to make his job easier, John accommodated my
wishes.

Now lets get to the actual install.

Within minutes the ONT was secured to the
wall.

Next the battery backup and power supply
were added. If I have one complaint about FIOS is that the battery life is
woefully short. It is not designed to handle a prolonged power outage. They
claim it will last a day, but four hours is more realistic. You better have
a cell phone and car charger because your Verizon FIOS will no work if AC
power is out.